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I am in the process of putting in some raised beds in my back garden; I've dug trenches for the footings so far. My main concern is to keep the cost as low as possible while still achieving an agreeable finish (bearing in mind that my house is not Buckingham Palace, I just want something that...

Hi all, I am planning to build a two-block high raised bed out of these blocks: http://www.ebuildingsupplies.co.uk/product/100mm-73n-440x215mm-solid-dense-concrete-block-/1001554/ Are these the right ones to use? I've chosen them because they're dense and solid and seem the right choice for...

I am smartening up the back garden and the walls currently have what must be 25-year-old flaking masonry paint on them (it was like that when I bought the house). I'm thinking of either lots of paint-stripper, or a blowtorch, or a sandblaster from a tool hire place. What's the best/quickest...

I'm going to lay 28mm deck boards at right-angles to the joists over an old concrete base, which is sound, but just a bit cracked and uneven in places. How far apart should the joists be?

Hi, I plan to make up some cement to repair a concrete garage floor (the floor is sound, it just has a few chunks knocked out of it). I intend to use a 3:1 sharp sand/cement mix with either Waterproof PVA (the Unibond stuff) or SBR added to it for greater adhesion and strength. Which would...

I am re-building a single-skin conservatory on the original brick walls. I want to insulate the walls using foil insulation - essentially, it is bubble wrap which has been silvered on both sides. It seems to me that the cost of a large roll of bubble wrap + a large roll of tin foil + a...

Hi all, I am renovating a lean-to conservatory with single-skin walls. I have tanked and batonned the walls (horizontal batons for vertical T&G). I intend to line the walls with insulation the same depth as the batons, before putting up the cladding. I am on a tight budget and I...

Hi all, This is really two questions in one! Background info: I am preparing the structurally sound but uneven concrete floor in my lean-to conservatory for self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles and so I'll be using self-levelling compound. The floor was previously covered with vinyl on...

Hi all, I have a mysterious noise in my house! In February of 2007 I completely renovated my house (new boiler, new lights, repaint, add more radiators, the works). I also removed all the rads and had the boiler replaced. Once I had re-installed all the rads (after the boiler had...